[lbaven]

Somebody asked me, do you eat tomatoes and I said no. Then he asked, do you dip your french fries in ketchup and I said yes. Then he told me that the goodness of a tomato like vitamins and other stuff are in ketchup. He said I am really eating tomatoes' vitamins. It that true?

[Wondergirl]

Ketchup is mostly water and salt. There's a small amount of vitamin C in it, but not enough to get excited about. So, no, you aren't getting your vitamins in ketchup.

[tickle]

In theory no, not correct. All of the goodness has been cooked out of the tomatoes in the process of making ketchup, adding sugar and salt and spices.

Eat field grown tomatoes in season and receive all of the benefits of fresh produce.

[Fr_Chuck]

Correct ketchup has little value. What good value it has it offset by its extreme salt value. 50 to 70 times the salt value. You need to stick with raw veggies for real value,

[joypulv]

On a general note: Vitamin C is one of the water soluble vitamins and is quickly lost in cooking. In fact it starts to go away once a fruit or vegetable is picked.

You can take vitamin C in a pill. What tomatoes have that's good for you as well though is lycopene, an anti-oxidant, good for staving off cancer and old age and who knows what, it's all the rage. You can buy that in a pill too. If you don't like tomatoes...

[cuteshoes337]

Ketchup is mostly corn syrup and vinegar, unfortunately. Grab a packet of ketchup at McD's and you will see. Tomato paste is a lot farther from the top of the ingredients list than you'd think.

If you are worried about getting the benefits of the nutrients in tomatoes without eating tomatoes (perhaps you don't like them?), rest assured there are plenty of vegetables (... fruits. Don't split hairs, now) that will do the job.